End construction for railway cars



Nov. 21, 1939. J C. ABEL 2,180,494

END CONSTRUCTION FOR AILWAY CARS Filed June 15, 1957 s sneets-snet 1ATTORNEY Nov. 21, 1939. J. c. ABEL 2,180,494

END CONSTRUCTION FORV RAILWAY CARS Filed June 1 5, 1937 s sheets-sheet 2Nov. 21, 1939.

J. C. ABEL END CONSTRUCTION FOR RAILWAY CARS 3 SheetS-Sheet 3 INVENTORFiled Jlme l5,u 1937 ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 21, 1939 UNiTED ISTATES ENDCONSTRUC'HON FOR RAILWAY CARS Joseph O. Abel, Berwick, Pa., assignor toAmerican Car and Foundry Company, N.'Y., a corporation of New Jersey NewYork,

Application June 15, 1937, serial No. 148,257

16 Claims.

'Ihis invention relates in general to end constructions for railway carsand in particular to end constructions for power cars of the streamlinedtype.

Past constructions for streamlined cars have been either of the cast orfabricated type with commercial forms bent to form a frame to which theend sheathing might be attached. It is almost impossible to bend acommercial shape to a streamlined contour and even if so bent it willhave very little strength since the metal will be improperly placedafter bending to resist the heavy thrusts to which an end member of acar may be subjected. In cases where cast framing members were used itwas, of course, easy to obtain the streamlined contour, but in thesecases a large amount of grinding and machining was necessary in order tomake the end member smooth enough for attachment of thin sheathing. Withthe cast construction it was impossible' to vary the streamlined contourwithout an excessive amount of machining or grinding or the use of a newpattern. It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to providean end construction which may be readily modied to conform to changes instreamlined contour.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved endconstruction of great strength and simplicity which may be manufacturedfrom plate and standard rolled section.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an endconstruction which may be readily secured to a standard underframe andbe readily modified in accordance with changes in the streamlinedcontour of the car.

A yet further object of the invention is the provision of an endconstruction for streamlined cars which is of extremely strong -boxsection and connects the side and center structures together.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to personsskilled in the art from a study of the following description andaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of the improved end construction Fig. 2 is aplan view of the end construction Fig. 5 is an elevational view of theend plate sheared and ready for bending, and

Fig. 6 is a plan View of the end plate as bent to the proper form.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the endconstruction has been applied to the front end of a power car but it isto be understood that this construction is equally applicable to carsother than power cars. The car as shown is constructed with a centerstructure formed in part byV an engine or machinery bed casting C.'I'his casting, as will be clearly seen from Fig. 4, consists oflongitudinally extending side rails 2 joined together by front andintermediate cross members 4 and 6 respectively and by bolster member 8.The bolster member is of conventional box section design and is providedwith customary center bearings lll and bracing web or gussets I 2. Thebolster is eX- tended outwardly beyond the side rails by means of shortstub castings I4 which are also of box section and suitably braced bygussets I6. The ends of these stub castings have a short adapter castingI8 rigidly secured thereto and which in eiTect after attachment forms anintegral part of the bolster. 'I'his adapter casting permits varying thedistance between the side sills as well as their cross section Withoutaffecting the main casting. In this manner changes may be made in theunderframe without necessitating any change in the engine bed casting,the only change necessary being the change in pattern of the bolsteradapter casting. The rear portions of the bed casting side rails arejoined together by rear vcross member 2U, which in the instance shown iscurved downwardly in order to accommodate a generator (not shown). Thelower front portions of the side rails are recessed at their forwardends in order to receive short Z- shaped center sill members 22 havingtheir webs and upper and lower flanges securely riveted or otherwisesecured to the bed casting. These centervsills extend forwardly toreceive therebetween a draft or buler casting 24 which is securelyriveted to the web and lower flange of the center sills and isformedwith suitable bracing ribs 26 and emergency coupler openings 28(Figs. 2 and v pressed member 32 having a lower inturned ange 34. Theseside sills extend forwardly be- {yond the bolster to a point to the rearof but substantially in alignment with the front edge of the machinerybed casting and have their forward ends deflected inward slightly as at36 in order to receive the improved end plate which is a part of thefront end construction.

The improved end plate 38 is formed merely by a strip of suitable platemetal having the edges sheared as at lli! and 42. In shearing theseedges the edge All will be sheared at an angle to the adjacent edge ofthe plate equal to the angle which the car sheathing will make with thevertical substantially at the center line of the car, while the edge l2will be sheared at 90 to the edge Ml as is clearly shown by Figure 1.With the plate so sheared it may now be bent to the desired contourwhich as shown in Fig. 6 is formed by a central portion bent on a radiusR and side portions bent on a radius R2, the latter of which merge intostraight portions lll adapted to be secured to the side sills. It isobvious that by raising or lowering the central portion of this curvedor U-shaped end plate the angle between the plate face and the verticalwill be changed and in this manner the angle of the front sheathing 46also changed. The ends of this curved or U-shaped plate are attached tothe side sills by suitable means such as rivets i8 and to the draft orbuifer casting by suitable means such as rivets 5S. The plate isreenforced by a lower angle 4l attached thereto and to the side silllower flange 35 by a splice plate te and also by an upper angle 5lsecured to the plate and to the web of the channel sill element 35i asisclearly shown in Figures l and 2, These upper and lower reenforcingangles are, of course, curved in accordance with the end plate curvatureand the lower angle terminates adjacent the buffer casting, while theupper angle terminates a short distance ahead of the end of theengine-bed casting. It will thus be seen that these angles not onlysuitably reenforce the curved plate but also assist in tying the sidesills into the box like end structure later to be described. It isobvious that .rif changes in the streamlined contour are desired,

it will be only necessary to either shift the position of the curvedplate or apply a new plate and buffer casting without `in any wayaffecting the remainder of the structure. The U-shaped plate is ofitself, of course, not suniciently strong to resist the shocks to whichit may be subjected, therefore, a flat plate 52 will be provided havingits front edge cut to the `desired contour and this plate will bepositioned substantially horizontal with its front edge abutting thecurved plate to which it will be welded, thus giving in eiTect aT-section end member forwardly of the engine bed casting. The rear edgeof this plate rests upon and is secured as by rivets `53 to the upperflange of a transverse Z-bar 54 extending from side to side of the carimmediately adjacent the front cross tie of the bed casting. The lowerrearwardly directed ange of this Z-member is securely riveted to abottom plate 5E which also has its edges curved in conformity to the endplate and welded thereto. These flat plates, together with the Z-bar andcurved plate, form substantially a box section end member locatedoutwardly of the bed casting and securely tying the bed casting and sidesills together. In order to prevent any buckling of the plates of thisbox section as well as to transmit corner thrusts to the bed casting, apair of Z-bar stiffeners 58 are securely riveted to the plates 52 and 56and abut the curved plate at their forward edge and to which they arewelded. The lower flange of the Z-bar member li will also be attached tothe heavy floor plates 6E which are also attached to the side rails ofthe bed casting as well as to the side sills and bolsters and thesefloor plates are suitably braced to prevent buckling by Z or othershaped stiffeners 62 (Fig. 2).

The side sills and end construction have side posts 64, GS, 68 and lrigidly secured thereto for the support of the side and front endsheathing l previously referred to. The posts 68 are of Z-bar formationhaving one leg firmly attached to the curved end plate, while the web issecurely attached to the web of the Z-cross member 54. The posts 'i areof exceptionally heavy Z-cross section having one ange securely attachedto the curved end plate, while the other flange is bent into the planeof the web at the lower end of the post for attachment to the verticalweb of the stub center sills prior to the positioning of plate 52.

t is thus seen that an extremely rigid end structure has been providedwhich is formed of standard rolled sections and plates which may bereadily modified to conform to various streamlined contours as may benecessary. If the change in the contour is merely a change in the angleof the sheathing, then this may be accomplished merely by raising orlowering the curved or U- shaped plate prior to the attachment of thehorizontal bracing plates; while if the change is in curvature, then theat end plate will need to be changed accordingly and the horizontalbracing plates out to conform. It will be obvious that with thisconstruction a standard engine bed casting may be used for various carshaving different streamlined contours and different side sill sheets andspacings.

While the invention has been described more or less in detail, it isobvious that certain modications and rearrangements of parts will beapparent to persons skilled in the art and all such modifications andrearrangements of parts are contemplated as fall within the scope of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In' a railway power car having propelling machinery mounted therein,the combination of an integral machinery bed casting terminatinginwardly of the oar end, side sills spaced outwardly of the bed casting,a draft pocket casting located adjacent the end of the car and spacedlongitudinally from said bed casting, and means rigidly connecting saidsills and castings and forming with said sills and castings asubstantially closed box-section end forwardly of the bed casting.

2. In a streamlined railway power car having propelling machinerymounted therein, the combination of an integral machinery bed castingterminating inwardly of the car end, side sills spaced outwardly of thebed and terminating inwardly of the forward end of the bed casting, adraft pocket casting located adjacent the end of the car and spacedlongitudinally from said bed casting, and means rigidly connecting saidsills and castings and forming a box-section end forwardly of the bedcasting and side sills.

3. In a streamlined railway power car having propelling machinerymounted therein, the combination of an integral machinery bed castingterminating inwardly of the car end, side sills spaced outwardly of thebed and terminating inwardly of the forward end of the bed casting, adraft pocket cast-ing located adjacent the end of the car and spacedlongitudinally from said bed casting, and means rigidly connecting saidsills and castings and forming a box-section end forwardly of the endcasting and side sills, the forward end of the box-section being formedby a curved plate so arranged as to conform to the streamline contour ofthe car end.

4. In a streamlined railway power car having propelling machinerymounted therein, the cornbination of an integral machinery bed castingterminating inwardly of the car end, side sills spaced outwardly of thebed and terminating inwardly of the forward end of the bed casting, adraft pocket casting located adjacent the end of the car and spacedlongitudinally from said bed casting, and means rigidly connecting saidsills and 'castings and forming a box-section end forwardly of the bedcasting and side sills, the forward endl of the box-section being formedby a curved plate so arranged as to conform to the streamline contour ofthe car end and overlapping the draft casting and side sills.

5. In a streamlined railway power car having propelling machinerymounted therein, the combination of an integral machinery bed castingterminating inwardly of the car end, side sills spaced outwardly of thebed and terminating inwardly of the forward end of the bed casting, adraft pocket casting located adjacent the end of the car and spacedlongitudinally from said bed casting, and means rigidly connecting saidsills and castings and forming a box-section end forwardly of the bedcasting and side sills, the forward end of the box-section being formedby a flat plate curved and bodily tilted at an angle to the verticalwhereby to conform to the streamline contour of the car end.

6. In a metal sheathed front end construction for a streamlined railwaycar, the combination of a longitudinally extending center structure,side sills spaced outwardly of the center structure and having theirends terminating inwardly of the forward end of the center structure, aflat plate connected at its ends to the side sills and curved forwardlyto overlap the center structure, and a second fiat plate overlapping andjoined to the center structure and secured to the inner face of the rstmentioned plate between the edges thereof thereby forming an end elementof substantially T cross section joining the sills and 'center structuretogether and providing a surface for the attachment of the front endmetal sheathing.

7. In a front end construction for a streamlined railway car, thecombination of a longi- `tudinally extending center structure, sidesills spaced outwardly of the center structure and having their endsterminating inwardly of the forward end of the center structure, a flatplate connected at its ends to the side sills and curved forwardly tooverlap the center structure, said plate being tilted to thereby conformto the streamline contour of the car end, and a second flat platesecured to the inner face of the first mentioned plate between the edgesthereof and at such an angle thereto as to form an end element ofsubstantially T cross-section, and said T crosssection element beingconnected to the side sills and center structure.

8. In a front end construction for a streamlined railway car, thecombination of a longitudinally extending center structure, side sillsspaced outwardly of the center structure and having their endsterminating inwardly of the forward end of the center structure, a flatplate connected at its ends to the side sills and curved'outwardly tooverlap `and be connected to the center structure, said plate beingtilted at a predetermined angle to the horizontal whereby its outersurface will conform to the streamline contour of the front end of thecar.

9. In a front end construction fora streamlined railway car, thecombination of a longitudinally extending center structure, side sillsspaced outwardly of the center structure and having their endsterminating inwardly o' the forward end of the center structure, a flatplate curved to a U- shape and connecting the sills and centerstructure, said plate being tilted at an angle to the horizontal wherebyits outer surface will conform to the streamline contour of the frontend of the car.

l0. In a front end construction for a streamlined railway car, thecombination of a longitudinally extending center structure, side sillsspaced outwardly of the center structure and having their endsterminating inwardly of the forward end of the center structure, aU-shaped plate connecting the sills and center structure and adapted toreceive the end sheathing, said plate being tilted at a predeterminedangle to the horizontal whereby its outer surface will conform to thestreamline contour of the front end of the car for reception of the endsheathing at a predetermined angle to the vertical.

11". In a railway power car having propelling machinery mounted therein,the combination of an integral machinery bed casting terminatinginwardly of the car end, side sills spaced outwardly of the bed casting,a bolster integral with the bed casting and extending beyond the sidesthereof, and independently formed adapter castings connected to thebolster and adjacent side sills whereby a standard bed casting may beused with various side sill spacings.

12. In a railway power car having propelling machinery mounted therein,the combination of an integral machinery bed casting terminatinginwardly of the car end, side sills spaced outwardly of the bed casting,a bolster integral with the bed casting and extending beyond the sidesthereof, and independently formed adapter castings connected to thebolster and adjacent side sills whereby a standard bed casting may beused with varying side sill contours.

13. In a railway power car having propelling machinery mounted therein,the combination of an integral machinery bed casting terminatinginwardly of the car end, side sillsspace'd outwardly of the bed casting,a short bolster integral with the bed casting, a stub casting extendinglaterally from each side of said bed casting and forming an extension ofsaid bolster, and an independently formed adapter casting connected toeach of said stub castings and side sills whereby a standard bed castingmay be used with various side sill spacings.

14. In a streamlined railway power car having propelling machinerymounted therein, the combination of an integral machinery bed castingterminating inwardly of the car end, side sills spaced outwardly of thebed casting and terminating inwardly of the forward end thereof, meansincluding vertically spaced, laterally extending plates rigidlyconnecting said sills and casting, and a substantially verticallyextending plate secured to and overlapping said sills and spaced platesto form a box-section end forwardly of the bed casting.

l5. In a streamlined railway power car having propelling machinerymounted therein, the combination of an integral machinery bed castingterminating inwardly of the car end, side sills spaced outwardly of thebed casting and terminating inwardly of the forward end thereof, a draftpocket casting located adjacent the car end and spaced longitudinallyfrom said bed casting, and means rigidly connecting said sills andcastings, said means including a plate being so formed and arranged asto conform to the streamline contour of the car end.

16. In a front end construction for a streamlined railway car, thecombination of a longitudinally extending center structure, side sillsspaced outwardly of the center structure and having their endsterminating inwardly of the forward end of the center structure, a flatplate connected at its ends to the side sills and curved forwardly tooverlap the center structure, said plate being tilted to thereby conformto the streamline contour of the car end, and a second substantiallyhorizontally extending flatv plate secured to the inner face of the rstmentioned plate between the edges thereof and to the center structurethereby forming an end element of 'constantly changing but substantiallyT-shaped cross section joining the said sills and center structure. y

JOSEPH C. ABEL.

